With 1.3 approaching, I wanted to take stock of the new features and Antonio, our spanish community manager, agreed to play the game!
1.3 is shaping up to be an interesting update and I admit that the first feature I ran into was the group finder module. I'm a fan of it! Why not have offered it right out of the gate?
There are several levels of answer to this question. We were very satisfied with the game at the launch and the public has received it very well. Not to mention that we have probably had one of the most stable services for the release of an online game. Of course, we are listening to the community, collecting player feedback, and working to bring you some of the features that you have requested from us. Many of these are featured in the “Allies” content update. I know we often have a lot of players telling us that such a group finder system should be standard in any MMO today. On some level, I agree and side with them. On the other hand, we must not lose sight of the importance of delivering solid functionalities that have been properly tested and this can take some time. I am happy that we are finally reaching our destination and that the system is up to both our expectations and especially those of the players!
I always like to know behind the scenes. How does it work?
I would respond well by saying that it only takes the click of a button for the system behind to form a group and allow you to start a hot spot and save precious time. To be completely honest, I don't have the technical details of how our group finder works. Simplifying as much as possible this is an automatic process that pairs players of the same (or approximately) level together in a group to accomplish a hot spot or an operation. This is very convenient as you no longer need to spend time looking for people in the fleet. As I said, a simple click and let's go!
How will you deal with the possible lack of tank or healer? Do you have statistics on this distribution in relation to the damage classes?
We don't notice any big disparities in the distribution of tanks, healers and DPS. Usually we see a similar pattern across all online games which highlights the fact that players tend to prefer playing a high damage class than a support or tank class. On the other hand, I think that the group search system as well as the side war zones will help to balance that on some servers perhaps. For example, tanks and healers will be in great demand because they represent pillars in a strong group.
Just to straighten things out, how does loot allocation work with group finding?
I'm going to quote our patch 1.3 notes because I think they answer the question perfectly: "Groups formed with the group finder are slightly different from normal groups: the group leader cannot return players or change the looting rules, but the group has access to the group dismissal by vote. Players can vote to dismiss another player from the group. "
As I saw all these roles, damage, tank, healer, I was like, are you still working on dual specialization?
We have talked about it in previous interventions and the answer is yes, we are still working on it. But I won't say more for now. :)
And so the classified war zones are finally coming! What was wrong with 1.2, can you explain to me what has been fixed?
Yes, war zones should not be too late. When we internally test certain features, we sometimes identify problems and fix them. On the other hand, in large-scale tests where millions of players test the game, it is possible that they will have behaviors that we did not anticipate or that we did not think of and highlight major concerns. This is a bit like what happened with war zones with the release of Update 1.2. So we had to delay their launch to make sure these issues were fixed. You know, it's better to keep the community patient and deliver a finished, bug-free system than to rush around and negatively impact players. Above all, we want to offer a great gaming experience!
It it's good ! I admit that PvP is not really my thing (my rank 18 in bravery makes more than one laugh) but I find that it will bring a better dynamic to PvP. What was the thinking behind this feature?
The development team has always wanted to have such a classified war zone system for several reasons. We have the competitive aspect that a lot of players like a lot (including me). Being able to compare your skills against other teams / guilds is always exciting and engaging. Then, I think we can see a shift from part of PvP to something a little esports in the future. Huttball lends itself to this quite well and I hope we will go in that direction.
And therefore still full of inheritance bonuses, linked to a unique character. I assume we will have more bonuses to unlock in future patches?
Yes most likely, but I won't say more just yet. ?
I come back to the statistics again, I like the small numbers. Do you have statistics on the number of features unlocked by players? Are they “playing the game” of Legacy?
We have statistics for everything! In general, this type of functionality makes it possible to see what players are going towards, what works and what does not, what motivates them, and this is precisely thanks to these statistics. The Legacy brings a lot of bonuses and we see a lot of players “playing the game”. An aspect of the game that players enjoy and that we will continue to develop.
The augmentation tables are really a good thing, it will re-energize the craft. So tell me how this idea came to the designers.
I don't know how the idea came to the developers, but what is certain is that we have put together a very interesting system for the players. Being able to add augmentation slots is a part of the game that is definitely a huge plus and allows you to customize your gear even more. These augmentation locations can also be improved to higher levels.
Doesn't this create an imbalance between the equipment created and the equipment recovered. How is balancing managed?
I don't think there is always some very interesting gear that players will go looking for in operations that should also be “augmentable”. But shhh, I didn't say anything.
Clever! To conclude, I wanted to talk about the social equipment that now adapts to the wearer's armor. As a Marauder, I particularly appreciate this change. Why has all of this gear been suitable for light armor until now?
No idea, I never asked the question to our developers. I imagine that it was the beginnings of such a system precisely.
Fortunately, this is a thing of the past now! The dress of an imperial dancer is mine. Oops, I digress. Thank you again for this new patch, like all players I presume, I am impatiently awaiting its deployment on public servers… Any idea of the date?
We finish adjusting our subluminal motors and we are good at deployment!
I would have tried ! Thanks again !
